video;

[whatyoumust]

[The person on the screen strikes a surprisingly mundane figure. He's in his late 30's-- or his 40's, perhaps, as the beard hides some of the wrinkles.) Dark eyes and hair, the latter of which is beginning to recede; brown skin; simple clothing; kind eyes set amongst the lines and creases of approaching middle age.

This is Alberto Reyes. He is an average Texan, an ordinary father... and he wants to get the hell home already.]

I was under the impression that we weren't using the draft anymore. I don't remember signing up to participate in any [other] wars in outer space, either. [And yet he still sounds more or less collected. 'Berto cracks a tiny, slightly exasperated, smile.]

I have a wife; children at home. I can't simply leave them like this. As much as I sympathize, I won't be fighting here, and that is that.

[He hesitates. There's not really a reason for him to have been picked up for something this odd, is there? Ex-military reputation notwithstanding, there's nothing particularly stand-out about him. At least not anything that'd warrant being taken here. Unless...]

[Alberto sets down what he was holding-- a cane-- and starts rifling through his wallet. Finally, he pulls out what looks like a recent school photo and holds it up to the camera.] On the off chance that my son is here [because what else could it have been but his superhero son] please let him know that his father is looking for him. My name is Alberto, and my son is Jaime.

[He shouldn't ask for Bianca or Milagro, should he? That's impossible. At least, he hopes it is.]

Thank you.

[Berto reaches over to cut the feed.]

Comments

private; video

[controlledvariable]

[So she's already fielded Jaime's freak out about his family being here, which means by the time she looks over the network, she's not surprised to see a post from his dad.

Still, she'll reply, giving a little wave when the feed comes on.]

Hi, Mr. Reyes, I'm Stephanie, I'm a friend of Jaime's. And I'm from your world. [Barring very similar alternate universes, but she's just going to assume it's the same world.] Did you and Jaime find each other okay?

private; video

[whatyoumust]

[first traci, and now this? when did jaime meet all these cute girls

He waves back in polite, smiling acknowledgement. Maybe the superhero world is just this weird-- he's going to start rolling with it all a little more.]

It's nice to meet you, Stephanie. Are you one of his friends from California? [Hint, hint. There's only one reason that Jaime ever goes over there, and it's a big, T-shaped, located-in-the-San-Francisco-Bay reason.] And yes, he's with me right now. We're fine.

perma that

[controlledvariable]

[The only perk of being a superhero: cute girls.]

Oh, no. Well... sort of. [What a good explanation, Steph.

Her smile turns sheepish.] Me and Jaime hadn't met back home, but we run in the same circles. I'm from Gotham.

[Just to... give a hint there.]

[whatyoumust]

[Oh. Oh. Well, that makes more sense. Recognition dawns on his face-- he's made the connection.]

Ah! I see.

How much of this circle is present, would you say? Just so I have an idea.

[controlledvariable]

Used to be more, but there's only a couple of less.

[Babs is gone, Dinha is gone, Helena is gone.]

We're the nice ones, so you don't have to worry.

[Not Mr. Grimdark.]

[whatyoumust]

[If she's friends with Jaime, she can't be half bad, right? He trusts Jaime's judgment enough.]

Jaime's lucky to have such good friends. Thank you for helping him get used to it all.

["It" being Exsilium-- and the whole superhero thing, in general.]